Friday, May 08, 2015

Philippine Bulusan volcano placed under alert

The Philippine government declared on Thursday Alert Level 1 or abnormal level for Bulusan Volcano in eastern province of Sorsogon.The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology ( Phivolcs) said the volcano generated a steam-driven explosion from a vent on its northwest upper slopes that propelled an ash plume approximately 250 meters high before it drifted west.

"The explosion event lasted 3.5 minutes based on the seismic records," the agency said.

The raising of the volcano's alert level indicates that hydrothermal processes may be underway beneath the volcano that may lead to more steam-driven eruptions, Phivolcs said.

It reminded the local government units and the public not to enter the 4-kilometer radius permanent danger zone due to the possibility of sudden and hazardous steam driven or phreatic eruptions.

Civil aviation authorities must also advise pilots to avoid flying close to the volcano's summit as ash from any sudden phreatic eruption can be hazardous to aircraft, Phivolcs added. Xinhua - china.org.cn8/5/15---Related:

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Preparations are currently underway for the arrival of yet another tropical system in the Philippines. Typhoon Noul developed in the western Pacific last Saturday and is expected to reach Luzon this weekend...

Noul, which is known locally as Dodong in the Philippines, was located around 1000km to the southeast of Manila (480 km northeast of the town of Borongan in Eastern Samar province) early on Friday. The storm had sustained winds of 200kph with gusts nearer 185kph.

It is expected to strengthen further over the next 24 hours to around 220kph, gusting 270kph. This will make it equivalent to a category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale, but there will be a slight weakening by the time it makes landfall in northeastern Luzon around 0000GMT Saturday into Sunday.

The storm is expected to hit Luzon’s Isabela-Cagayan provinces and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said that it is alerting regional and provincial authorities to make preparations. Evacuations are now underway along much of the northeast coast.

Noul will be the fourth typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, and is likely to bring flooding rains and large sees along with the damaging winds throughout the weekend.

After passing the Philippines, Typhoon Noul is forecast to head towards Taiwan followed by Japan.Source: Al Jazeera8/5/15

The Philippines on Saturday evacuated thousands of people in the northeastern part of its main island of Luzon on Saturday, less than 24 hours before a powerful typhoon was expected to make landfall....jpost.com9/5/15

EL Kaos UT

The UN has imposed a 2013 deadline for the submission of scientific claims to the Arctic seabed. It is the precursor to a resource boom which would see Canada, the US, Russia, Norway and Greenland all attempt to exploit the region's resources.